Shell Halts Production At 200,000-Barrel-Per-Day Oil Field In Nigeria After Militant Attack

Royal Dutch Shell said it shut down production from an offshore oil field that produces about 200,000 barrels per day after the most powerful militant group in Nigeria launched an attack on an installation there Thursday.

Oil prices rose in Asia on the news, which raised concerns about possible supply outages in Africa's largest oil producer.

The group also said it captured an American worker on a supply vessel in the area of the rig.

A leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta told The Associated Press that militants attacked the Bonga oil field more than 85 miles from land. But the fighters weren't able to enter a computer control room, which they had hoped to destroy.

--
"The location for today's attack was deliberately chosen to remove any notion that off-shore oil exploration is far from our reach," the group said in a subsequent statement. "The oil companies and their collaborators do not have any place to hide in conducting their nefarious activities."

Olav Ljosne, a spokesman for Royal Dutch Shell, confirmed an attack, but gave no details. He said production had been stopped from the field, which normally produces about 200,000 barrels of crude per day.

That accounts for about 10 percent of Nigeria's current daily output of about 2 million barrels per day production — already significantly off the amount produced before years of militant attacks on crucial oil infrastructure.

AP: http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=218887

Pretty much cancels that puppy out.

I have my suspicions.

This shit takes some serious money.

I would love to see some video of this.

I'll bet money that there were some Americans and Brits with them.

As you well know, oil-platform takedowns are a very, very specialized specop skill. You just don't go out there and jump up on the platform and do it, especially in an area where those platforms are likely well armed with small arms, fixed machinegun emplacements, grenade launchers and other tools of interpersonal disagreement. How did these guys get the training to insert to be positioned to do what they did? Where did they get the specialized equipment to insert? Did they boat in and swim the final leg? Helicopter and fast rope?

They have to have former operators in that mix: SEAL, SAS/SBS, GSG9, whatever.

Shimmying up a platform leg is no small feat.

They had to be training on dry land to remain undetected.

Maybe a wooden structure in the middle of no-fucking-where.

This just blows me away.

Open-water piracy is child's play compared to this.

"other tools of interpersonal disagreement"

You kill me, Big Man.

You fucking kill me.

And now I am away to a wine tasting.

If you see anything else on this, could you PM the link?

Thanks, T_S,
Tom

The platform sticks are to be inserted both ways: a stick fast-roping in from helo, or if there is space, jumping off from the skids, and one or two sticks inserting from below. They get up top by doing the shimmy(usually one guy who drops caving ladders). Everyone gets to their position, then they go at once. Also, you have a sniper on the helo for overwatch, coordination and 300 grain boattail chastisement of those who would be less than welcoming to visitors who have come so far to set a spell and chaw the fat. It take specialized coms, too, for the great coordination it takes to make something like this work. Another thing: if this was a night op, which I suspect it was, where did these guys get the visioning equipment necessary?

Oh man, this is sooooo hinky. This is NOT the sort of work your average barefoot stumblebum with a rusty AK does, or pulls off.

Blackwater, anyone?

Fuckin' aye, Buddy.

Ops to the fucking max.

Like I said, I would love to see the vid.

Prob'ly make me feel like the old man that I am.

T.

Oil operations are very "soft." I'm quite surprised that various states haven't taken greater measures to militarize their oil sectors, being so integral to both economy and security.

read Tandalayo's reply up-thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3486197&mesg_id=3486441

This is about as "hard" as it gets in open water.

We (T_S and I) know.

But you are correct about conventional (especially land-based) operations.

But I will guarantee you this was a hard target.